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”The way we won,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said, ”is probably more significant than just getting a back-to-back win.”

Brandon Nimmo and Asdrubal Cabrera homered off Brad Boxberger in a four-run ninth inning and the Mets rallied to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 on Sunday.

The Diamondbacks led 3-1 entering the ninth and Boxberger (1-3), with his third blown save in 20 tries, struck out the first two batters.

Jose Reyes reached on a bunt single, which Boxberger said ”kind of threw the rhythm off.”

Reyes scored on Jose Bautista’s pinch-hit double that glanced off right fielder Jon Jay’s glove to cut the lead to 3-2. Nimmo, who doubled and scored in the first inning, followed with a two-run shot to right field to put New York ahead 4-3.

”When I came up to bat I was just looking to put the barrel on the ball. He’s on second base. A base hit ties it,” Nimmo said. ”For me, personally, and for this team, maybe we’ve been trying to do a little too much lately, so there I was just trying to get the barrel on the ball.

”I wasn’t trying to hit a home run Olivier Rodrigue Oilers Jersey , but I know now with my swing that if I get on the barrel and the launch angle is right, it will go.”

Cabrera’s solo shot made it 5-3.

”I have to make a better pitch to Nimmo,” Boxberger said. ”I pulled a changeup right into his barrel? I have to make a better pitch and then we wouldn’t be standing here.”

The Mets split the four-game series in Arizona and won consecutive games for the first time since May 20-21.

The Diamondbacks were 4-3 on the homestand with a frustrating conclusion.

”But that is what makes this game great,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. ”It is heartbreaking. It is rewarding. It is fulfilling and we experience all of those emotions and sometimes all in one game. When it ends like it did today, it is tough.”

Jeurys Familia (3-3), just off the disabled list, allowed a run in an inning of relief to get the victory.

Alex Avila reached to start the Arizona ninth when first baseman Dominic Smith dropped second baseman Cabrera’s throw for an error but Robert Gsellman retired the next three for his third save in seven tries.

Robert Gsellman pitched the ninth for his third save in seven tries.

Clay Buchholz and three Arizona relievers had shut down the Mets since the opening inning until the big rally.

David Peralta doubled in Arizona’s first run in the two-run fourth inning and made a diving grab in left field to rob Zack Wheeler of a hit to end the fifth. Jake Lamb’s bloop single in the eighth made it 3-1.

Buchholz went 5 2-3 innings, giving up a run and four hits.

Nimmo led off the game with a double, took third on a ground out and scored on Todd Frazier’s sacrifice fly to center.

New York won for only the third time in 15 games.

”It was really great to come back and get a win like that,” Callaway said. ”That’s something we were doing early on, which feels like three years ago.”

Mets left-hander Jason Vargas was ejected from the dugout by home plate umpire Jim Reynolds in the bottom of the fourth inning. Vargas is scheduled to start Tuesday night at Colorado.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: Familia had been sidelined since June 7 with a sore right shoulder. To make room, New York optioned RHP Jacob Rhame to Triple-A Las Vegas.

Diamondbacks: RHP Shelby Miller (Tommy John surgery) made his fourth rehab start on Saturday night. He threw 6 2-3 scoreless innings for Class A Visalia against San Jose. Miller allowed three hits and struck out 10 with no walks. He threw 81 pitches, 56 strikes.

UP NEXT

Mets: RHP Jacob deGrom (4-2, 1.55 ERA) takes the mound for New York Monday night in the opener of a four-game series in Colorado. LHP Tyler Anderson (4-1, 4.48) starts for the Rockies.

Diamondbacks: Arizona heads to Anaheim for a two-game interleague series with the Angels. RHP Zack Greinke (5-5, 3.87) starts for the Diamondbacks in Monday night’s opener.

Sports rivalries between California teams are always intense. When it comes to hockey there isn’t much of a history, but that’s about to change.

North meets South when the San Jose Sharks visit the Anaheim Ducks in Game 1 of a first-round Western Conference matchup on Thursday night at Honda Center

This is the 14th playoff series between California teams and only the second between San Jose and Anaheim. It will be nearly impossible to top the first series.

In 2009, the Sharks entered the postseason as Presidents’ Trophy winners and with franchise records of 53 wins and 117 points. The eighth-seeded Ducks pulled off the upset in six games.

This season, Anaheim (44-25-13) finished on a 10-1-1 run to ease past San Jose and the Los Angeles Kings into second place in the Pacific Division.

“If we didn’t have success, we might not even be qualified for the playoffs,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle told the team’s official website.

San Jose (45-27-10) reached 100 points for the first time in coach Peter DeBoer’s three seasons but enters the playoffs on a 1-4-1 slump after a season-high eight-game winning streak.

“We’re drawing probably one of the top teams in the league, and it’s a great test for us,” DeBoer said Monday.

The Sharks went 3-0-1 versus the Ducks in the regular season Justus Annunen Blackhawks Jersey , with three games going to a shootout. DeBoer is not expecting an easy series.

“They had 101 points, and that was without (Ryan) Getzlaf and (Ryan) Kesler (hip injury) for big parts of the season, so they’re probably a 110-point team at the end of the day,” he said.

Carlyle, who led Anaheim to its only Stanley Cup title in 2007, gave his insight on the Sharks.

“They’re a skating, well-coached hockey club,” he told the Orange County Register. “Lots of balance. They’re not a flashy team by any means but they’ve got a lot of depth through their lineup. They play a high-tempo game.”

San Jose’s offense is powered by Norris Trophy winner Brent Burns, who overcame a slow start — seven assists in his first 19 games — to lead the team with 67 points. Wings Joe Pavelski (66 points) and Logan Couture (team-high 34 goals, 61 points) also figured prominently.

Sharks winger Evander Kane, the fourth overall pick in the 2009 draft by the Atlanta Thrashers, will make his postseason debut. Kane had nine goals and five assists in 17 games after being acquired in February from the Buffalo Sabres.

For the second straight season, winger Rickard Rakell was Anaheim’s top goal scorer, this time with a career-high 34.

Getzlaf appeared in only 56 games — he missed 19 between late October and mid-December after facial surgery — and tied a career low with 11 goals, but also put up 50 assists. He has 118 points (37 goals, 81 assists) in 121 career playoff games.

Anaheim also got 20 goals this season from winger Ondrej Kase — a seventh-round draft pick in 2014 — and 20 from center Adam Henrique after he was picked up in a late November trade from the New Jersey Devils.

Both teams have solid options in goal, but the Ducks may have the better tandem.

Anaheim’s John Gibson set a career best with 31 wins and posted a 2.43 goals-against average in 60 games, while Ryan Miller went 12-6-6 with a 2.35 GAA and owns 28 career playoff wins.

San Jose’s Martin Jones reached 30 wins for the third time in as many seasons with the club despite a career-worst 2.55 GAA. Aaron Dell, who won 15 games in his second season, has never played a minute in the postseason.

Both teams will miss key players. For the Ducks, defenseman Cam Fowler (eight goals, 24 assists) is expected to sit out the first round with a shoulder injury.

San Jose will still be without Joe Thornton. The 20-year-veteran center has not played since suffering a right knee injury in late January. Nine months earlier, Thornton needed surgery to repair the MCL and ACL in his left knee.